Experts believe the flight was brought down by bad weather en route from Nantes to Cardiff as Ibbotson flew Sala from France to join up with his new club following his January transfer to the Premier League side.

RAF instructor David Learmount told UK newspaper The Times that he believed Ibbotson had some degree of control over the plane when it hit the water.

Learmount said the fact that the plane's wreckage was discovered in a relatively small area, rather than being spread across a wide radius, was a sign that the pilot had "not absolutely completely lost control."

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch confirmed that they had ceased their search for Ibbotson's body, and stated that the operation to recover the wreckage of the plane had been halted by bad weather.

Meanwhile, Ibbotson's daughter has set up a crowdfunding page to raise funds for a fresh search for her father, with a target of $388,800 (£300,000).